Jordan Pope’s late free throws lift Oregon State past UTSA

Jordan Pope scored 19 points and hit the game-winning free throws with 13 seconds to play as Oregon State came from behind to defeat visiting UTSA 66-65 on Sunday afternoon in Corvallis, Ore.

The Roadrunners led by six points at halftime but by just 63-62 after Oregon State's Tyler Bilodeau hit a 3-pointer with 2:13 to play. UTSA got a driving layup by Jordan Ivy-Curry a minute later before the Beavers' Dexter Akanno answered with a layup with 58 seconds remaining.

UTSA's Carlton Linguard Jr. missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free-throw opportunity with 22 seconds left, giving the Beavers (7-3) a chance to tie the game or take the lead. Pope drew a foul and made two free throws, and Ivy-Curry missed a layup in the final seconds to allow Oregon State to escape with the win.

Akanno added 15 points while KC Ibekwe hit for 11 and Bilodeau had 10 for Oregon State, which shot 44.8 percent from the field to UTSA's 43.3 percent.

Ivy-Curry led the Roadrunners with (5-6) with 11 points while Linguard and Massal Diouf added 10 apiece.

The game went back and forth over the first 11 minutes and was tied at 17 before the Roadrunners got a second-chance layup by Trey Edmonds and a dunk by Chandler Cuthrell to go up four points. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Cuthrell and Isaiah Wyatt pushed the UTSA lead to 27-18 at the 5:33 mark of the first half.

The Roadrunners led 31-22 when Oregon State put together a mini run, closing to within four points on Pope's driving layup with 34 seconds remaining in the half. Diouf's layup at the horn granted UTSA a 33-27 lead at the break.

Pope scored 12 points to lead all scorers before halftime while Diouf's eight paced the Roadrunners. UTSA outshot Oregon State 46.7 percent to 39.3 percent and forged a 15-9 edge in bench scoring over the first 20 minutes.

The Beavers rallied to take a 41-40 lead with Bilodeau's triple with 14:41 to play in the second half. There were three ties and eight more lead changes before UTSA went in from at 61-59 with 4:14 to play.